"Kuttner, Henry - Red Gem of Mercury" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

lurched, and cried out sharply. Vane whirled; his hand went out in a futile
gesture. For already the little gangster was falling. . . .
The treacherous snow banked on the edge of the abyss crumbled beneath him. He
was gone almost before Vane realized it. Sick with horror, the lawyer moved
forward and peered over. He saw the body, far below, bound off a rock and vanish
into the swift, turbulent river.
Tony Apollo was dead, and he had failed to keep his last promise.
A shout sounded eerily from the distance. Vane heard the noise of a shot--the
high whine and the sharp report. He glanced over his shoulder, saw three dark
forms, and caught his breath, hesitating. What now? He had not realized before
just how much he had come to depend on Apollo's grim, iron will. But the
gangster was gone--
The hideout! It lay just over the ridge. Perhaps there were guns there. Vane
broke into a stumbling run, topped the rise, and saw below him a broad, shallow
valley. A cabin, its roof pillowed with snow, was not far away. Pines rose
thickly from the whiteness of the ground. The key was hidden in the hollow log
Apollo had mentioned. Vane burst into the cabin in a flurry of snow, kicking the
door shut behind him and barring it. His first glance showed him a rack of
well-oiled rifles within easy reach. The feel of the smooth stock was comforting
to his fingers.
He went to a window and peered out. The pursuers were just coming over the rise.
It would be easy to pick them off now, one by one. Vane cuddled the rifle
against his cheek; his finger tightened on the trigger. But he did not fire.
He had never yet killed a man. Even though his ideals had changed, in the slow
torment of months of prison, into a dull, burning hatred and resentment, yet he
realized that this rage was focused on one man only. Pasqual. The squat gangster
chief who had framed him into disgrace. The guards--well, they would not
hesitate to shoot him down, given the opportunity. But that was their job. Vane
said "Hell" under his breath and fired over the heads of the three.
They paused very briefly and then dived for cover. After a time Vane could see
them cautiously coming closer, taking advantage of every hiding place. He fired
again.
One of the guards yelled, "Come on out! You can't get away!"
"I've got plenty of ammunition," Vane shouted back. "And I'm staying right here.
"
THEN, without warning, it happened. A shrill keening almost above the threshold
of hearing grew suddenly louder. Vane, startled, glanced up. Beyond the tops of
the pines he saw the gray, cloudy sky--
He screamed, dropping the gun, and flung up his arms to shield his face, falling
back in instant reaction. For rushing toward him from the sky came a dot--a
circle--a huge black thing that grew larger by split-seconds. It was like
standing on a railroad track and watching a locomotive plunge toward you. One
had only the single impression of something--a meteor?--rushing, expanding,
growing--
Earth-shaking and thunderous was the explosion. Vane felt the floor rise up
under his feet; he was hurled through the air, his ear-drums almost broken by
the violence of the sound. Swift movement, and a flash of blinding light, and
then darkness, complete and quiet....
HE could not have been unconscious long. He woke to find himself lying in the
snow, his head throbbing with pain. Dazedly he heard a voice say, "Alive, eh?